Critic Rating

PVR Cinemas have pioneered many a concept, but this one literally takes the sushi. For the first time in the country, patrons of a cinema theatre — PVR Director’s Cut at Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj — can order freshly made sushi (or an appetiser, sashimi and sushi in a bento box customized for film viewing) while watching their favourite stars in action. And if your sushi tastes like something you’ve had at Megu, the Japanese restaurant at The Leela Palace New Delhi, it is because it has been made under the supervision of Master Chef Yutaka Saito, who was acclaimed as one of Seattle’s top sushi chefs before he moved to India four years ago.
Saito will now be dividing his time between Seattle, London and New Delhi, but his staff, who have worked at Megu, Wasabi and Sakura, know how to roll out a sushi without the rice just hanging loose or tasting too sweet for comfort. I loved the vegetarian options (Chef Saito’s speciality), especially the Avocado Tartare on a bed of pan-fried black sushi rice and the Tofu Spinach square sitting on airbrushed shiray ae (white sesame paste). Non-vegetarians have more choices, though I could make a meal out of the carpaccio — Maguro Akami Tataki (big-eye tuna tataki with ponzu sauce and seaweed salad), Kampachi (amberjack with fried mushroom) and Furumi Salmon sexed up with jalapeno and white miso. Simply yum!